Method of making stitchdown shoes



April 6, 1943.

METHOD OF MAKING STIT CH-DQWN SHOES Filed 001:. 2, 1941 F; J; BIRAGA 2,316,045

2 Sheets-Sheet l April 6, 1943.

F. J. B'RAGA 2,316,045

METHOD OF MAKING STITCH-DOWN SHOES Filed Oct. 2, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 6, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD or MAKING STITCHDOWN snoss Frank J. Braga, Hudson, Mass. Application October 2, 1941, Serial No. 413,316

10 Claims.

This invention pertains to the manufacture-offootwear and relates more particularly toanimproved method of making shoes of the stitchdown type. In the manufacture of most of the usual types of shoe, the lower margin of the upper is turned inwardly and caused to overlie the; last bottom during the lasting operation, but

been proposed to subject the upper, after assembly with the last, to the pressure of forming dies designed to conform the upper to, the last contour, butsuchmethods are usually subject to-the disadvantage that the upper'tends to retract; to someextent, at least, when removed from the forming means, and before it can be permanently securedto thesole memberor members.

Iii-accordance with another procedure which is nowinuse, the upper and insole are assembled upon the last andthen, by means of hand pincers orby the use of a benchsupported, manually actuable lastingclamp, a short section of the lower margin, of theupper is seizedand subjected to lasting stress. Then by means of the operators two thumbs the upper is held firmly against the last at opposite ends respectively of the section which has, thus been stressed and by means of a straight needle sewing machine that portion of the margin which lies between the operators thumbsis permanentlysewedto the insole. The operator then stresses another short section of the margin in the same Way, holds it snugly against thela-st by means of his thumbs, and sews this sectionto the insole, and so on until the entire margin has been stitched. Alternatively after the toe and forepart have thus been stressed and stitched, the stretching operation may be dispensed with as a preliminary to the sewing of the remainder of the margin of the upper, since it is not so necessary to apply lasting stress to the upper rearward-1y of the forepart. V I The operation just above referred to isexceedingly difiicult and laborious especially When dealing with the hard and heavy leathers of which many stitch-down shoes are made, and so much skill is required that a training period of a year ormoreis often necessary before anoperator becomes, really efficient and experienced. Due to this fact the operators demand and receive very high wages, which adds substantial y to the co of production of shoes of this type.

Furthermore no matter how skilled theoperator may be, it is almostimpossible to. obtain uniform, results, since the stretching and. retention of the upper depends upon the care,,skill, strength and degree of fatigue of the operator, and thus it is not infrequent to find shoes made in this way which, while supposedly of the same size, differ as much as a half size in length. Moreover, since the initial sewingoperationprogresses from point to point along the upper while the latter is held in place on the last merely by the operators thumbs, there is a very strong tendency to swing the upper or the insole relatively to the last and to each other so that the upper and insole are no longer in proper longitudinal registry. This tendency totwist the parts relatively to the last is sufficient in someinstances actually to tear, the insole, providing the latter has been adequately anchored to the last, and such'adequateanchorage requires the employment of a substantial number of tacks for securing the insole to the last.

It has been proposed to facilitate the operation by inserting two tacks into the margin of the upper at opposite sides of the toe respectively, but this proposal has involved the idea that these tacks must be driven through the margin of the upper in sucha direction as to enter the sides of the last instead of the last bottom, inorder to avoid interference with subsequent operation. However, it has been found that when the tacks are so inserted they do not adequately resist the tendency of the upper to, retract upwardly, par ticularly when subjected to certain subsequent operations such as toe-forming and that the tacks become bent so that their points become hooked and when, at a later stage, they are pulled out, they may leave appreciable holes in the upper andso tear the wood of the last that, after a com.- paratively short time, the last becomes worthless and must be discarded.

The present invention has for its object the provision of .a novel method. of making Stitchdown shoes, in particular the provision of a method whereby far less skill is required in properly lasting the upper and securing it tola sole member than is necessary in accordance with other acceptable methods; to, provide a novel method which involves a true pulling-over step, whereby the upper is properly spindled and uniformly stretched at the toe, but which does not cause undue injury to the last; to provide a method whereby the shoe may be lasted much more quickly and cheaply than is possible by previous methods; to provide a method which is less laborious and which makes optional certain operations heretofore considered wholly necessary; and to provide a method which results in a product which is superior in uniformity and appearance to shoes made in accordance with prior methods and which in looks is substantially indistinguishable from welt shoes.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out hereinafter in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom view of a last having an upper assembled therewith, spindled and pulled over in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the last of Fig. 1 with the pulled-over upper;

. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation of th last and pulled-over upper showing the toe portion of the upper turned backwardly;

I Fig. 4 is a bottom view showing a sole member assembled with the last and pulled-over upper;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of thelast, upper and sole member, showing the toe portion of the upper turned downwardly to overlap the margin of the sole member and indicating a. straight needle in position to form a seam for permanently uniting the upper and sole member;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the shoe, showing the result of the stitching operation indicated in Fig.5; v

Fig. '7 is a bottom view of the shoe of Fig. 6

indicating the location of the stitches which pass indicatingthe completion of the'stitching of the upper to the sole member. Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates'a last of appropriate size and style, and the numeral 2 designates an upper which is assembled'with the last and temporarily secured to .the rear end of the last by the tack 3. While for simplicity in illustratiomthe upper is here shown as a single thickness of material, it is to be understood that the upper may be of any conventional or desired construction.

Inaccordance with the present invention the upper, thus'asse'mbled withthe last, is presented to an ordinary pulling-over machine such as is commonly employed forv pulling over welt'shoes, for example, and which is so constructed as to drive tacks through the margin of the upper and into thebottom of the last in order to hold the upper in proper pulled-over position. The, first stepin-the pulling-over operation is to spindle the upper. that is to say to position it on the last so that theforward point of the upper registers about the toe portion of the last and. as a final step lays the margin ofv the upper' inwardly over .the last bottom at points at opposite sides of the toe'and drives a tack into each such overlying portion of the margin, thereby retaining the pull- 7 ing-over stretch and the spindled relation of the upper and last. As illustrated in Fig. 1 the upper has been pulled over so as to cause portions 4 and 5 of its margin to overlie the last bottom and tacks 6 and 1 have been driven through these respective portions of the margin into the last bottom so as temporarily to secure the forepart of the upper to the last. It is particularly to be noted that these tacks are driven into the bottom of the last as is customery in pulling-over shoes and not into the sides of the last nor through the portion of the upper which is exposed in a completed shoe.

After having thus pulled over the upper, the toe portion of the upper is preferably turned back as indicated in Fig. 3 and a sole member 8 (Fig. 4) is then assembled with the last and the pulledover upper. This sole member may be an inner sole or it may be an outer sole (in accordance with the type of shoe being made) but in any event, since the shoe is of the stitched-down type, this sole member is of such dimensions that its margins project outwardly to a substantial distance beyond the bottom edge of the last, a sole member of'such dimensions being hereinafter referred to for convenience as an extension sole. As indicated in Fig. ithis extension sole 8 is temporarily secured to the bottom of the last by two tacks 9 and I?) respectively which are driven through the forepart of the sole member.

In accordance with the present invention a single tack may be suflicient, particularly in the small sizes of shoes, and two tacks are amply sufficient.

Having thus assembled the sole member with the last and pulled-over upper, the toe portion of the upper is now turned down to overlie the upper surface of'the projecting margin of the sole member, as illustrated in Fig. 5 and that portion of the margin of the upper which intervenes between the tacks 6 and I (here specifically illustrated as that portion of the upper which is forward of the tacks 6 and l.) is now permanently secured to the margin of the sole member. Various types of fastening means may be employed for permanently uniting these parts, for example, they may be united by means of an appropriate adhesive, such as that commonly used in the manufacture of cement-lasted shoes; they may be united by means of staples or other metallic fasteners, or they may, as here specifically indicated and in accordance with the preferred procedure, be united by a stitched seam. For this purpose stitches may be formed by a straight needle machine such as for example as that which is commonly used in sewing stitch-down shoes, the needle N being indicated at Fig. 5, it being understood that the machine will have the necessary and usual elements auxiliary to the needle for forming a permanent seam uniting the upper and sole members. Preferably this seam will be started at a point adjacent to one of the tacks B or 1 and will progress around the toe of the machine to the vicinity of the other tack. Since the forepart of the upper has been pulled over and since the stretch so imparted has never been relaxed, owing to the insertion of the tacks 6 and I, it is not necessary for the operator, in

performing this sewing operation, to hold the upper in place by means of his thumbs nor to attempt to stretch the upper material nor even to pay any particular attention to the position of the toe portion of the upper relatively to the last. It is thus possible for a relatively unskilled operator to stitch the toe portion of the upper to the sole member with the assurance that when the operation has been completed the upper and sole. memberwill beiinproper spindled relation withrespect tothe last and in proper relation to eachother and that the upper material will have the snug fit about the toe of the last which is desirable in order to produce a commercially acceptable high-grade shoe.

After the toe portion of the upper has thus been stitched to the sole member, the bottom of the shoe has more or less the appearance indicated in Fig. 7 th line of stitching S extending froma point such as B at one sideof the toe to a point such as H at. the-opposite side of-the toe.

Having thus .permanentlysecuredthe toe of the upper tothe sole member itis now permissible toremove the pulled-over. tacks it and 1; This operation will be performed in any desired manher, for example manually bymeansof'a. simple tack puller l I asindicated in Fig. 8.

' After removal: of the pulling-over tacks, the

toe portion of the upper may be subjectedto the action of. a toe-forming machine or other device whereby the material: of; the toe, particularly at the location of the seam S, is smoothed,- ironed and firmly and permanently set to conform to the contour of the toe portion of the last. Certain presser elements of such a machine are diagrammaticallyindicated at P and P (Fig. 9), such presser elements'being designed tobemoved toward each other withsubstantial pressure so as try-compress the margins ofthe upper andsole member-between them, the forming means being designed to embracethe toe portion of the. shoe andto form a sharp angle in the upper material along the line ofstitching. Usually these presser devices P and-P are heated so as morequickly to impart a permanent setto the material of the upper.

' WhiIethistoe-forming operation-- is desirable, inorder to obtain the finest effects inhigh-grade shoes, it may be dispensed with in accordance with the present invention when making shoes of illustrated, the marginal portion of the upper,

rearwardly'of the toe portion, is secured to the sole member bymeans of stitches and such stitches may conveniently be'formed by the same machine employed in forming the seam S. For instance, after the tacks have been drawn and the toe-forming operation performed, the operator may again present the shoe tothe sewing mach ne so as to begin substantially at the heel end of the shoe, as indicated at [2 (Fig. l) and to form a stitche sea-m S extending from this point along the margin of the shoe until it joins the stitched seam S at the point 6 for example. Then again, beginning at the point l2, the operator may proceed. along the other side of the shoe to form the seam S which joins the seam S at the point 1. While it is thus preferred to proceed from the heel in opposite directions as separate steps, it is contemplated that after the completion of the seam S at the toe and after removal of the tacks 6 and I, aseam may be commenced either at the point 6 or the point I and extended along the margin of the shoe around the heel and to the opposite. end of the seam S- Since it is not so essential that the upper material be strongly pulled or lasted-in at, the sides and heel as at the toe portion of the shoe, it is readily possible to complete the sewing operation from the points 6 and 1 around the heel by means of the sewing machine alone, without recourse to any specific and independent lasting operation and without the requirement of great skill on the part of the operator. Obviously, the seams S and S may be formed before the seam S, if desired, since in any event the tacks 6. and 1 hold the upper properly spindled until sole and upper have been permanently united about one end of the shoe Since, as above noted, the upper is firmly anchored to the last at point 6*! and I as a result of the pulling-over operation, the progressive formation of the seam around the end portion of the shoe cannot impart any twist and thus the tendency to swing the sole member upon the last is so much reduced that the sole member may be properly anchored to the last by the use of only one or two tacks, thus having tacks andlabor as compared with the usual method in which a larger numberv of tacks is usually necessary.

As a result of the practice or" the present invention the shoes are far more uniform in size and appearance than those which are made in accordance with usual methods of stitch-down production, the uppers being so tightly drawn around the toes that the completed shoes resemble and are almost indistinguishable from high-grade welt shoes. lldoreover, while the product is of this improved character, the eperationmay he carried out much more quickly has beenpossible in accordance with previous methods; the operator need not he or great skill or long experience; and the cost production. very materially reduced compared wi the cost of making stitch-down shoes in accorde c with prior methods.

While acertain desirable procedure has herein been. described and illustrated by way of example, it is to he understood that the invention is to be regardedias broadly inclusive of and all modiiications such as fall within the, scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. method of making stitch dcwn shoes which comprises steps assembling an upper a h a 1 st, spindling and pulling over the toe porti r vi the upper and inserting a tack through the nargin of the upper and into the cot-tom of the last at each si e respectively of the toe portion the tuning back the toe portion of upper. assembling an insole with the last and pulled-over upper. turning down the toe portion of the upper so that its inner or lining surface overlies the upper surface of the insole, stitchin to the insole that portion of the margin of the upper which intervenes between the tacks. remoying the tacks, setting the upper material about the toe by the application of pressure and heat, and stitching the remainder of the margin of the upper to the insole beginning adjacent to the heel of the upper and proceeding forwardly first one side of the shoe and then at the other, to join the ends respectively of the toe stitching.

That method of making stitch-down shoes which comprises as steps assembling an upper and a last, spindling and pulling over the toe portion of the upper and inserting one tack through the tion and sole member.

margin of the upper into the bottom of the last at each side respectively of the toe portion of the upper, thereby positivelyto retain the upper in properly spindled relation to the last, turning back the toe portion of the upper, disposing a sole member in assembled relation to the last and temporarily securing it to the last at its forepart, turning the toe portion of the upper down against the margin of the sole member, permanently securing said toe portion of the upper, intermediate said tacks, to the margin of the sole member, removing the tacks, and permanently securing the margin of the upper rearwardly of the toe portion to the sole member.

3. That method of making stitch-down shoes which comprises as steps assembling an upper upon a last, pulling over the upper and inserting a tack through the margin of the upper into the bottom of the last at each side respectively of the toe portion of the upper, thereby to retain the upper in proper position upon the last, turning back the toe portion of the upper, disposing a sole member in assembled relation to the last and temporarily securing it to the last, causing the toe portion of the upper to overlie the marginal portion of the sole member, sewing said toe portion of the upper, intermediate said tacks, to the sole member, removing the tacks and securing the remainder of the margin of th upper to the sole member.

4. That method of making stitch-down shoes which comprises as steps assembling an upper upon a last, pulling over the upper and inserting a tack through the margin of the upper into the bottom of the last at each side respectively of the toe portion of the upper, thereby to retain the upper in proper position upon th last, assembling a sole member with the last and causing the toe portion of the upper to overlie the marginal portion of the sole member, permanently uniting said toe portion of the upper, intermediate said tacks, by means of fastening elements to said sole member, attaching the margin of the upper rearwardly of the toe portion to the sole member, and removing the tacks at a convenient point in the process subsequent to the union of the toe por- 5. That method of making stitch-down shoes which comprises as steps assembling an upper upon a last, spindling and pulling over the upper, inserting a tack through the margin of the upper into the bottom of the last at each side respectively of the toe portion of the upper, assembling a sole member with the last and upper, causing the inner surface of the marginal portion of the upper at the toe to overlie the upper surface of the sole member, permanently uniting the marginal portion of the upper, intermediate said tacks, to the sole member thereby permanently holding the sole member and upper in proper registry, and thereafter removing the tacks.

6. That method of making stitch-down shoes which comprises as steps assembling an upper upon a last, spindling and pulling over the upper, inserting a fastener through the margin of the upper into the bottom of the last at each side of the toe portion of the upper thereby to retain the upper and last in properly spindled relation,

assembling a sole member with the last, permanently securing the margin of the upper, intermediate said fasteners, to the sole member, removing the fasteners, setting the upper material around the toe by the application of pressure, and thereafter completing the union of the marginal portion of the upper and sole member.

'7. That method of making stitch-down shoes which comprises as steps assembling an upper upon a last, spindling and pulling over the upper, inserting a fastenerthrough the margin of the upper into the bottom of the last at each side, of the toe portion of the upper thereby to retain the upper and last in properly spindled relation,- assembling a sole member with the last, stitching the margin of the upper, intermediate said fasteners, to the sole member, removing the fasteners, subjecting the upper material at thetoe portion to heat and pressure thereby to set it, and thereafter permanently securing the margin of the upper rearwardly of the toe portion to the sole member.

8. Those steps in the method of making stitch.-v doWn shoes which include spindling and pulling over an upper assembledvvith a last, temporarily securing the upper tothe last by two fasteners extending through the margin of the upper into the last bottom, one at each side respectively of the toe portion of the upper, the 'margin of the upper intermediate said fasteners being left free,

assembling an extension sole with the last, permanently securing the toe portion of the upper,

intermediate said fasteners, to the extension sole, and thereafter removing said fasteners.

9. Those steps in the method of making stitchdown shoes'which include'spindling and pulling over an upper assembled with a last, inserting two tacks through the margin of the upper into the last bottom, one at each side respectively of the toe portion, the toe portion of the margin intermediate said tacks being left free, turning up the free toe portion of the margin intermediate said tacks, assembling an extension sole with the last and pulled-over upper, turning down said toe portion of the upper so as to lie upon the upper surface of the extension sole, and permanently securing that portion of the margin of the upper which is intermediate between said tacks to the sole member before removing said tacks. r

10. Those steps in the method of making stitch-down shoes which include spindling and pulling over an upper assembled with a last; -inserting a tack through the margin of the upper and into the bottom of the last, at each side respectively of the toe portion of the upper, tem

\ porarily securing a sole member to the bottom of 

